iA Financial Group is teaming up with Dialogue Technologies Inc. to improve health-care access for its group benefits plan members. The platform allows plan members and their families to speak with health-care professionals, anywhere in Canada, at any time. Available online or on any mobile device, its services include: prescription renewal and free delivery of […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is acquiring a 49 per cent of the entity that holds Enbridge Inc.’s stake in Éolien Maritime France SAS, Enbridge’s partnership with EDF Renewables. The investment is set to support the development of three offshore wind farms in France. The CPPIB is paying €80 million for its stake, with a further €120 […]
More than half (56 per cent) of Canadians said the coronavirus is having a negative impact on their mental health, with social isolation the top contributing factor, according to a new survey by Sun Life Canada. The other factors include concern for loved ones (57 per cent), fear of contracting the virus (56 per cent) […]
MindBeacon Group is partnering with the Ontario government to make its online mental-health service available free of charge for everyone in the province. Beacon is a digital platform that guides individuals through a personalized course of cognitive behavioural therapy. Users complete the therapy with a registered health professional providing one-to-one guidance through digital messaging to […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are participating in a $390-million series-D round of financing for Grail Inc., a U.S. health-care company focused on cancer testing. The financing is aimed at boosting the company’s balance sheet to support its continued development, as well as the commercialization of its cancer testing method. […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is calling on provincial governments to allow pension plan sponsors to opt out of making any special payments for a period of six to 12 months or until there’s greater visibility of the end of the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. “We recommend that no conditionality or approval requirements be applied […]
Medavie Blue Cross is adding a virtual health-care tool to its group benefits plans. The Online Doctors Unlimited tool, which is available through a partnership with Maple, includes consultations with Canadian-licensed doctors; access to a doctor immediately; service available 24/7/365; and an efficient administrative process. A lite version of the tool, with a limit of five […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is purchasing a three per cent net smelter return royalty on gold production at Monarch Gold Corp.’s Beaufor mine in Quebec for $5 million. The $5 million will be payable to Monarch in two instalments — $3 million upon closing of the transaction and an additional $2 […]
The Ontario government has significantly cut financial penalties for plan sponsors making a late payment of a pension benefits guarantee fund assessment. The change, made through an amendment to the provincial Pension Benefits Act, will apply to plan sponsors that fail to pay their PBGF assessments that are due between April 30 and Dec. 31. Read: An overview […]
Canadians who’ve started working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic are seeing some benefits, according to a new survey by Robert Half Canada Inc. More than three-quarters (79 per cent) of the survey’s 500 respondents said they’re currently working from home. Of that group, 60 per cent said they now realize it isn’t necessary to go […]